


Nightmares and Dreams

by orphan_account



Series: For a future together [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: 10 years since the main storyline of Fates, Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Leo and Takumi still under the same influences but not as strong as previously, M/M, Multi, Nohr | Conquest Route, Nohr | Conquest route AU - None of the royal siblings died, Romance, potential for character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-19 23:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7381876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything could have been seen as perfect in their little family, with two doting parents and two loving children. Things were less perfect than they seemed though, each of them filled with flaws and frustrations, yet they all felt at peace.<br/>Leo and Takumi's peaceful life in Hoshido couldn't last forever though, with an incident at the bottomless canyon and the end of their nightmares being the start of it... And their sons want to end their fathers' pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A fall

**Author's Note:**

> It's 2am and whaddya know, I've already got the second part of this series started on here.  
> Woo.  
> By the way, for a bit of context for some of the things in this story, [the first part of the series is called Painful Possession](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7192325/chapters/16322990), if you want to understand this a bit better~

“Come on, Felicia! Silas! You’re going to fall behind!” A white haired noble, tied to Hoshido by blood and to Nohr by bond, was eagerly waiting for their retainers to catch up with them. “You too, Kaze! We can’t leave Xander waiting, he’s been sending letter after letter about how he can’t wait for us to return home to see how much Siegbert has grew in such a short amount of time!” Despite being over thirty years in age now, and a parent too, they were still a child at heart. It wasn’t a surprise that they needed so many retainers with them at once.

A ninja, a cavalier, a maid, and also a butler were by their side through thick and thin, no matter what. When forced to choose between Hoshido and Nohr over a decade ago, and ultimately choosing Nohr, all four of them either stood by them from the start, went searching for them, or even defected to Nohr in order to be by their side and to achieve their noble aims.

“My liege… As much as I agree on returning to Nohr with haste, we are at the bottomless canyon. It may be too dangerous to proceed at the speed which you intend to move at.” Jakob, the butler, looked rather concerned at Corrin running across the bridge. “That, and-!”

Corrin tripped up on the rickety bridge, and ended up filling their hand with splinters when they tried to cushion the fall. Jakob and Felicia were quick to run to Corrin’s side, and pull them back up to their feet. As that happened, Kaze quickly moved to the other side of the bridge, whereas Silas remained at the side which they all had come from, on account of his horse and not wanting to make the bridge break.

From the shadows, a figure was watching over the group, and had five weapons propped up against a tree. Only one would be needed if everything went according to plan, but if absolutely necessary, all five would have to be used. Just one javelin was all that was needed to take the child-like royal out of the picture. They were stood still too – an optimal moment for them.

Slowly and steadily, the javelin rose, and was poised to pierce Corrin’s leg, and preferably, one of their main arteries. They would essentially bleed themselves to death, no matter how much healing was done.

Just as the weapon was threw though, Corrin had stepped forward because of Kaze mentioning that he had some herbal concoction which his daughter had made, which was capable of healing the cuts made by their splinters. Horror filled each of the faces of the people on the bridge as the javelin sailed past them, and ended up cutting through some of the supporting ropes that were keeping them held up.

The person was frustrated at having missed their target, but the ear-piercing screams moments later sounded almost like a song to them. Felicia was unable to keep her footing, unlike Corrin and Jakob, and had ended up missing Silas’ outstretched hand (as Felicia had been stood just by him on the bridge). She was plummeting down into the canyon, much to the horror of everyone else there.

Almost instantly, the mystery attacker had a new plan. Another javelin was lifted, and then tossed at the other supporting rope beside the broken one. Because of the haste at which Corrin and Jakob were trying to get to safety from the bridge at, it was easy to disorient them both as the bridge went falling to the side of the canyon which Kaze was stood at. Silas was now stuck at the Hoshidan side of the canyon, Kaze was attempting to grab hold of Corrin and Jakob’s hands, and the two who were grasping onto the bridge were struggling to hold on.

Kaze, as the only calm and level-headed person remaining, began to try and formulate some sort of plan. “Silas! Return to castle Shirasagi and explain everything which has happened to king Ryoma!” He then stretched his arm out further, and was thankfully able to grab hold of Corrin’s wrist. “Take hold of-!” He was going to ask that Corrin take hold of the butler’s hand, but Jakob had disappeared into the depths below. “Gods… Keep hold of my hand, Corrin!”

In those few moments, Corrin looked down at where their two retainers had fell, before looking up at the one retainer who was keeping hold of them. “Kaze… Listen to me.” Shakily, they took hold of their dragonstone, hoping that they wouldn’t drop it into the canyon too. They could just about remember the situation which had happened with Gunter all those years ago – he had fell, and yet he lived. “Let go. I have been down here once before – there is a bottom to the canyon, and it _will not_ kill me, just as it wouldn’t have killed Jakob and Felicia.” At seeing Kaze shake his head, and attempt to pull them back up, they held out the stone. “ _Kaze._ Go tell Xander what happened just as you got Silas to tell Ryoma. Tell him that the three of us are still alive, just requiring help. Get Azura too, she has her own way to get to the place which exists down there. She can check to see if we are all alive if absolutely necessary.”

The reluctance to release Corrin began to show on Kaze’s face, but Corrin knew that if he refused to let go, then both of them were to plummet into the canyon too. They could just about see the glint of a new javelin emerging, aimed directly at Kaze’s back.

With a loud roar, Corrin began their dragon transformation process, but only for their free hand. A blast of water was then threw at Kaze with the intention of pushing him back onto safe ground, and in turn, that made his grasp loosen.

Despite knowing that there was the potential for them to die, Corrin couldn’t help but laugh to themself. _Falling seemed to be becoming quite the pasttime._

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“You really think that _I_ have the potential to wield your weapon, Dad?!” Kiragi gasped, quickly snatching the Fujin Yumi out of the Hoshidan prince’s hand. “I hope so, because this yumi is _awesome!”_

Takumi sighed, before nodding his head. “Unfortunately so...” He sat down in the grass, before watching as his son then tried to adjust his grip of the weapon. “And all because of that _incident…_ ”

Kiragi gave his dad a slight glare then, before rolling his eyes. “It’s not my fault that I got a bad scrape which left me bleeding out from one of Forrest’s sewing needles! And it is _definitely_ not my fault that the only way to save me fast enough was to give me some of your blood!” Takumi didn’t exactly want reminders of those events. He had just been spending time with Hinoka for the first time in a while, and then Sakura ran over to him saying that Kiragi was heavily bleeding because of a scrape!

As the yumi slipped out of the teenager’s hands, Takumi lay back in the grass, feeling close to the point of giving up. “You were the one trying to make a mini yumi with your fingers, elastic bands, and the needles, Kiragi… That, and Forrest had his needles locked away from you, meaning that _somebody_ had to have got to them.”

“Ah, that was Asugi. I bribed him with candy.” Kiragi was finally able to cheer as some blue energy began to form in the bow, but only for a brief few moments. Unlike his son though, Takumi was threw into some of his dark memories at the mention of Asugi. His parents were Ryoma’s long-deceased retainers, Saizo and Kagero. Nobody was aware of Asugi’s existence until Kaze had appeared one day with the young child in his arms, explaining his situation. That in turn reminded him of Hinata and Oboro… They had been dead for over ten years too, but unlike Saizo and Kagero, had no offspring, or at least any offspring which anyone was aware of.

At the same time as that, sat under a tree nearby was Leo, with Forrest by his side. Leo was conjuring up various different Nohrian plants using the power of Brynhildr, and was in turn making the two of them feel nostalgic. Forrest could remember more of his first few years living in Nohr than Kiragi could, and with Leo being a Nohrian native, he couldn’t help but miss his home. The pair of them had lived in Hoshido for more than ten years by that point, with Leo having moved there once he and Takumi had become engaged, and with Forrest almost as soon as he and his brother were adopted by the two princes.

“Father… Do you create these plants and trees as a reminder of home?” Forrest went and picked one of the flowers which had bloomed, before sighing as he remembered seeing them grow in the dark in Nohr. “Every so often I think of home, and… I remember that day where you and Dad saved Kiragi and I from being killed. And the day which Corrin turned into a dragon just to scare Kiragi into not using his bow near them again.”

Leo looked down at the pages of his weapon, before nodding. “I do. I also remember those two days… It is hard to believe that was over ten years ago now. You are sixteen, whereas you were six years old then… And your brother was only four...” He ended up allowing a tall, darkened tree with deep green leaves to grow then, before standing up and resting his hand against the bark. “It upsets me knowing that you both could have died back then.”

It was quite the shock for Leo to then have Forrest grab hold of him for a hug, before smiling at him. “But we didn’t, and that is thanks to you and Dad.”

Silence was the only thing which remained as Leo brought himself around into returning his son’s hug. Every once in a while, usually after receiving reminders on as to what had happened to the two boys all those years ago, the awkwardness of knowing that Kiragi and Forrest were not actually his and Takumi’s children by blood, but were instead adopted, tended to get to Leo. He would find himself pushing the boys away, and his words became almost like weapons against them. The last time that had happened, he had a fit of rage over Forrest’s liking towards making and tailoring clothes. Though Leo would beg for forgiveness afterwards, his heart practically broken that he had turned against those who meant the world to him. It was a flaw which Takumi was trying to assist him with though.

That favour was constantly being repaid though, as Leo was also trying to help Takumi with one of his major flaws – his constant feeling of inferiority. Takumi would find ways to feel as though he were worse than anyone, even with people such as Ryoma’s son, Shiro (who was only twelve), and also with Corrin’s young child, Kana, who was only nine. Leo would always find a way to make Takumi feel better about himself (and usually that involved taking a normal, everyday event which Takumi had been involved with that day, and then retelling it in the fashion of Hoshidan and Nohrian legends).

“Come on, let me show you how to hold that… The Fujin Yumi isn’t exactly like any other yumi, Kiragi.” Takumi was now returning to his feet, and stood by the youngest boy’s side, and directed his hands into the optimal position to wield the weapon, and showed him the exact angles which his legs required to be. “Right… Now, you need to focus on this. And I mean it, Kiragi. No getting distracted by those silly trees that your father is growing-”

“I’ll have you know, Takumi, that evergreen trees happen not to be silly. They maintain their leaves no matter what the season, so long as the tree is not-!”

“As I said – silly.” Takumi playfully grinned at Leo then, before turning his attention back to Kiragi and demonstrated with a wooden training yumi what the boy needed to do.

Leo sat down and began grumbling to himself then, trying to think of a way in which he could get Takumi back for teasing him like that. Forrest could read the look on his face, as it was the third time that week which Leo had ended up wanting to do such a thing. The suggestion which the teenager provided brought a child-like glee to Leo’s face.

_Grow trees in the pathway of Takumi’s arrows, and if absolutely necessary, create vines and try to use them to mess about with his stance._

Before the Nohrian could even consider playing around in such a way though, a figure suddenly burst through the trees, out of breath. The small family turned to face the intruder, and seeing the franticness on the person’s face, they knew that something wasn’t right.

“Silas?” Takumi began to walk over to the cavalier. “What’s going on? I thought that you were returning to Nohr with Corrin...”

“I- I was! But we were attacked!” Silas ran his hand through his hair for a moment, before frantically looking around. “I- I need to find King Ryoma… F- Felicia definitely did, and I- I think Jakob and C- Corrin too… They fell into the bottomless canyon!”


	2. Weapons and news

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiragi and Forrest aren't particularly happy with what has been happening since the news of Corrin falling into the canyon, Kiragi more than anything. He just wanted to try and use the Fujin Yumi with Takumi's help.  
> The news is broken about Corrin in Nohr too... And the news has to be broken to Corrin's children.  
> And the invisible enemies begin to emerge...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait for exactly a week until I posted this chapter, but... My email seems to be rather dead at the moment. I don't like the silence... heh...

Inside the room which the two brothers shared, Kiragi and Forrest were talking about how their parents had been acting as of late. “What do you think the matter with Dad and Father is? Ever since Silas showed up, the both of them have been so… panicked!” The of course knew what was being spoke about there – the incident which had happened at the bottomless canyon. “I mean, surely Corrin would be _fine!_ They can turn into a _dragon_ for gods’ sake! _”_ Kiragi was frowning, upset that Takumi had missed a few yumi training sessions, but not as worried over missing studying with Leo. “And Jakob and Felicia would be fine too! I mean, they’ve survived through all sorts just _because_ of their loyalty to Corrin!”

Forrest looked at his brother, before sighing and shaking his head. “Kiragi… They fell into the _bottomless_ canyon. I don’t think that they would have survived… And I think that they are worried about breaking the news to Xander, Siegbert, Kana, Mozu, Dwyer, and Sophie… Three different families, all ruined because of somebody attacking them and making them fall in…” He looked at his hands, before turning to Kiragi. “How would you feel if both of our parents and I fell into a place with no escape and certain disaster? I for one… Would hardly be able to cope if I lost the two of them and you, Kiragi...”

Kiragi remained silent after that. It was a valid point. Corrin was married to Xander, and Siegbert and Kana were their children. Jakob was the husband of Mozu, and father of Dwyer. Felicia was mother to Sophie, and Silas was her spouse. On top of that, he couldn’t even _dare_ to imagine losing his family, especially not Forrest.

Without a word of warning, the younger of the two jumped to his feet and then ran towards the room which their parents shared, and quietly opened the door. Neither of them were there, so that was good. What made it even better… Was that resting upon the desk were their legendary weapons. The Fujin Yumi and Brynhildr… Kiragi then reached out to grab hold of them, with the intention of seeing if he and Forrest could practice with them (it had been showed that Forrest had magical prowess similar to Leo’s, and he also had the potential of wielding the legendary weapon, despite lacking the blood in order to wield it properly).

The boy hadn’t expected the door to the room to open at just that moment, and to make matters worse, it was Leo. “Gods…” The blonde man looked at the boy for a moment, before yawning and shaking his head. “I would question why you were holding those weapons if it weren’t for me feeling tired.” The prince groaned, before sitting down on the bed there. A dismissive hand gesture was made then, and Kiragi’s eyes lit up. “I’d run before I wake myself up enough to lecture you on taking what doesn’t belong to you, Kiragi...”

In the past, when Kiragi had tried to grab the two divine weapons to practice with them, Leo had _always_ been the one to apprehend him, and lecture him on the value of the weapons whilst claiming that if stolen from him, they were likely to never see them again as they would get sold, likely in some sort of underground market. Kiragi assumed that either Takumi (the parent who tried to persuade Leo that allowing their sons to practice with them would be beneficial) had rubbed off on him, or that the remark about being tired was genuinely true.

“Thanks, Father!” He dived and Leo and gave him a tight hug, and without a moment to think after that, Kiragi had rushed out of the room. Leo rose an eyebrow at the sudden action, before rubbing his eyes and yawning once more.

Slowly, Leo went and lay down, and closed his eyes. A short nap would have been acceptable, because it wasn’t deep enough for him to dream or suffer from a nightmare. Unfortunately, he fell into a sleep which was much deeper than anticipated.

Shockingly, his sleep was constant. Peaceful. Untouched. A type of sleep he had not had ever since the day which his father had joined him and his allies during their attempt to conquer Hoshido, all those years ago. A quaint few hours of dreams, in which he was happy with his family, and nothing bad happened to them. There was no kidnapping of Forrest, because of a group of bandits believing he was a woman and that they would get money for selling him, such as a dream a few months back. Kiragi was not under attack as he went out hunting, and ended up with various grievous injuries in the process, such as a nightmare from a few days previously. It was a relief to not have Takumi screaming for help, begging for Leo to impale him with his weapon, just to get the darkness to leave him at peace… That had been a recurring nightmare for over a decade.

They were all _happy._ Forrest was sat with them all, repairing a tear in Kiragi’s clothes with a needle and thread after a successful hunting trip with Takumi. He was listening to Takumi laugh and smile at how proud he was of them all, and that he was so happy that both he and Leo had been permitted to adopt both boys all those years ago.

Leo felt uncomfortable with that upon waking. After so long with suffering from nightmares, they had become the norm. Any deviant from the norm, and he would shiver and wince.

He felt as though he knew that he had to be preparing for something because of that one short rest without suffering, but he couldn’t exactly remember… _what._

Nearby, between two dusty books on a bookshelf, was a note. The note which Mikoto had written to Leo after seeing him in Takumi’s future. The note which had warned him of this exact situation...

_Invisible warriors shall begin to hunt you out, but not at first. It shall be a few years before you become targets to them, so you should be safe at the time which you first read this note. The nightmares which you both experience will be an indicator of your safety – once they stop, you shall no longer be safe and you must remain vigilant._

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Corrin _fell_ into the bottomless canyon?!” Xander was taken aback not just in surprise at the message, but also horror. “Could you not have saved-?!” He was so worried… How could he dare explain this to Siegbert and Kana? _Could_ he even explain this to the two boys?!

“I could have, King Xander, yes. But they attacked me as a way of forcing me into rushing here to give you the message. They said something… strange though.” Kaze frowned as he found Corrin’s words hazy, but he could still remember the message which they were trying to convey. “They claimed that if they fell in, they would be safe. It was a strange claim … Apparently Lady Azura is aware of what happens, and has a way of seeing if they are safe. I do not know this bears truth, but if it does… Then my liege, Jakob, and Felicia should still be alive, and Lady Azura could possibly confirm this.”

“… Does King Ryoma know of these events?”

“Silas was on the Hoshidan side of the canyon when the three fell, so I sent him to inform Hoshido of the events. The part which I explained to you just then though, king Xander, was told only to me by Corrin before they forced themself into falling.”

The door to the Nohrian throne room opened silently, and a boy with close to white hair just as silently stepped inside, a smaller blonde boy latched onto his arm. “Who forced themselves into falling, father? Did they scrape their leg or something?” Xander had his head buried into his hands at that point, and the voice made him look up.

Xander sighed, and buried his head once more. He had hoped that he didn’t have to tell the two, but of course, they had to walk in _just_ as he was discussing what had happened. “Siegbert… Shouldn’t you be studying? Your aunt Elise said that she was going to keep you and your brother in the library.”

“She got distracted by a sudden visit from Benny and Ignatius...”

The smaller of the two boys quickly ran over to Xander, and took hold of his arm. “Papa… I want to see Mama… Mama is meant to be home now…” He then jumped onto the king’s lap, and looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Where’s Mama, Papa?”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Come on… Try and see if you can hit… Hmm…” Takumi looked around, to see if he could find a target for his sons to try and aim for with their weapons. “Ah, I know. Kiragi, there is a bear prowling amongst those trees… You can see it, right? Try and shoot that. And Forrest… Try and use your magic to knock that pile of rubble from that dilapidated hut in the distance down.” He pointed in the two different locations, and the two boys nodded. Kiragi adjusted the Fujin Yumi, and cheered when he was able to get the bowstring and arrow to form. Forrest put on a faint smile as Brynhildr began to become enveloped in a purple glow, ready for him to attack.

It had took quite a lot of persuading to get Takumi to separate from Ryoma in order to give the two brothers a chance to train, after hearing the news about Corrin. He had been doing his best to comfort his brother, who seemed particularly shaken up once hearing about it.

Before either attack happened though, Forrest was quickly enveloped in an overwhelming feeling of dread. He suddenly stepped back and pushed his dad and brother to the side once the glint of a weapon similar to a Nohrian blade suddenly emerged in the middle of a watery shadow. “Th- There was something there!” Takumi seemed quite shocked at the shove, but at seeing Forrest shaking slightly, he composed himself. “With a sword!” Forrest then pointed to near where he was previously stood, but there was nothing to be seen. “I swear, you have to believe me, Dad!”

Quickly, Takumi snatched the Fujin Yumi out of Kiragi’s hands, and glared at the two boys. “I believe you.” The prince then glared at the two. “Get your father and uncle. _Now!_ If necessary, your aunts too!”

“Even Azura?”

“ _Yes,_ Kiragi! Even Azura!” He rolled his eyes, before he held his weapon up. It hadn’t been the first time that he had been attacked by something invisible… For that matter, he had been attacked by these strange invisible things on the same day which his nightmares started, mere days after Corrin’s decision to stay with Nohr instead of Hoshido.

Following that, the Hoshidan prince began to make out the watery purple outlines of the attackers, and he sighed deeply as he began to aim his weapon. “Gods… If my nightmares get worse after this, I am seriously going to get mad. I hope that Oboro and Hinata are still protecting me from beyond the grave...”


	3. Fighting and persuasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight against the invisible warriors begins to happen, and there are a few additions to the fight which the older generation weren't too keen on.  
> Corrin is confused in Valla, unable to locate Jakob or Felicia.  
> Xander is having trouble with his sons over what had happened to Corrin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo... I am terrible at keeping to schedules.  
> 'I'll update once a week', she says. Updates every few days, she does.

Leo gritted his teeth as he held Brynhildr firmly in his hand, and used its magic to defeat the invisible enemies before everyone. To his side was Takumi, who was firing arrows at the enemies whenever he could make out their watery outlines. Behind them was, against their wishes, Forrest and Kiragi, the older of the two holding onto a rod and the younger a yumi, helping the two of them out whenever they could.

He couldn’t seemed as though the two boys weren’t the only ones who were fighting the growing group of enemies against the wishes of their parents. Sakura was also fighting with a yumi and behind her was her daughter, Midori, holding onto a weapon similar to her mother’s despite the princess doing her best to hold the girl back. Azura was in combat with Niles at her side, Nina and Shigure insistent of fighting from a distance on Shigure’s pegasus despite the glared they kept getting from their mother. Ryoma and Hana were in the middle of the enemies, Shiro rushing around just as recklessly with a naginata even though Ryoma kept saying for him to stay back. Hinoka was getting _very_ frustrated at Mitama sat on the back of her pegasus coming up with haikus (and with Azama egging the girl on in this act).

In spite of the chaos of having the children on the battlefield amongst them, Leo felt… somewhat comfortable with it. After all, this was the general family dynamic in castle Shirasagi, and he wouldn’t actually trade it for anything.

“Magic and arrows / Fathers and sons together / To swords they are weak.” The sudden haiku from Mitama had caught the attention of Forrest as he used a staff to freeze some of the enemies in place, and it took him a moment to realise what she had meant by it. She was directly talking to him and his family, warning them of swords…

Takumi’s sudden shout of pain showed that he was too late to react though, as the prince dropped the Fujin Yumi and took hold of his arm tightly. Blood was quickly seeping between his fingers and dying the material of his clothes a deep red colour. The semi-visible sword was coated in blood too, and Leo, in retaliation to Takumi’s injury, ended up kicking the flat side of the blade away. Quickly, Forrest ran over to Takumi and picked up the Fujin Yumi before tossing it over to his brother.

“Kiragi, fight with Dad’s weapon, and help Father!” He then noticed that Takumi’s face was pale and his eyes had widened at the shock of the injury. “Dad, let me look at your arm. We can get closer to the castle, and I can see if I can help it. Aunt Sakura is too busy to try and heal it at the same time as fighting and protecting Midori, so you don’t really have much other option. The same with Azama too, he can’t heal you...”

It took a lot to get that message through to Takumi, with Forrest having to drag him by his other arm over to the castle wall. “Forrest… I’ll be… I’ll be fine. Just… Let me get my weapon from Kiragi...” He mumbled, before falling down to his knees. Forrest sighed, before kneeling down beside him. “I mean it, Forrest… You don’t need to worry...”

“Your arm has a _deep_ wound, and you are losing blood quickly… Dad, I don’t want you to strain yourself! I don’t think that Father would want that too...” The younger of the two then pulled out a rod, and used it in order to close up the wound which was still bleeding quite a bit, but that drained him of quite a lot of energy.

Takumi went and rested his arm upon his son’s shoulder, and gave him a weak frown laced with concern. “Forrest, don’t… don’t strain yourself for me. I’ll be fine… I told you.” He tried to make him put down the rod, but Forrest was too insistent.

“No, Dad… I need to heal you...” Forrest then took a deep sigh once he noticed that no more blood was pouring out of the injury. “I will just be a slight bit tired, that is all...” Now the teenager’s head was resting upon Takumi’s lap, and he seemed to be struggling to fight off sleep. “I’m not too used to healing at the moment… I’ll get used to it… But at least you aren’t hurt any more, and you haven’t lost too much blood...”

Silently, Takumi made his son sit up, and pulled him close to him in a hug. “Gods, Forrest… You need to take care of yourself too, you know… Thank you for healing me, but… Let somebody else do the healing next time.” He stroked the boy’s hair as he closed his eyes, and then Takumi sighed. Despite Forrest not being related to neither him nor Leo, he definitely seemed to have the insistence which both of them possessed at times.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Corrin groaned as they began to come to in a strange location which they knew was more than familiar to them. This was the place where they had found Gunter with Azura, after following her into a lake whilst Garon was alive, and insistent on conquering Hoshido. Despite knowing of the dangers of this place, something else was on their mind.

“Jakob?… Felicia?...” They called out as soon as they were on their feet, and glanced around quickly. There had hardly been five minutes between the time that Felicia had fell and the time which Corrin had fell, so the butler and maid _had_ to have been nearby. “Please… Are you both here? Jakob, Felicia, please!”

A cold gust of wind brushed past them, and it made Corrin pull their cape around themself tightly. There was absolutely no sign of their companions, and it made them want to cry. Had they… Actually died when falling into the canyon? Were they not like Gunter?

Now a sobbing wreck, Corrin fell down to their knees and held onto their arms tightly. “I’m all alone… I’m cold and alone...”

‘ _Are you? Are you_ _ **truly**_ _alone?’_

“What?” Corrin glanced around, and could see nobody. “I am alone… Who are you? Where are you?” The confusion was getting to their head.

‘ _If you want answers… Travel in Valla, and follow your instincts. You will find where you need to be, young dragon.’_

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Everyone fell silent as they overheard everything which Azura told them, explaining that she knew where those invisible warriors had come from by a lakeside. She was stood knee-deep in the water, which seemed rather strange, but nobody questioned it. “I can enter the place where they came from by wading into the water… But most of you are incapable of doing so. Shigure is capable of passing through too, perhaps also Nina… But nobody else here can.” She turned around and walked further into the water, much to the shock of everyone but her son. “I have a feeling that this shall also be where Corrin, Felicia, and Jakob happen to be, and their arrival there brought this attack on...”

As she then ended up fully submerged in the water after she had began to sing, Takumi took hold of Leo’s hand out of horror. He was shaking, and a slight bit sweaty. Leo pulled his husband close to him for a hug, fully understanding of his shock. Takumi had spent most of his life with Azura, and it looked as though she had drowned herself.

“Mother will be back soon, trust me. We should wait at the castle and have our injuries all tended to properly.” Shigure stated, before he then turned to Niles, who was smirking, despite having just seen his wife walk into the water.

“Gosh, she is going to be rather wet if she has gone into the lake… I’ll have to sort _that_ out when she returns.”

That made Leo and Takumi separate, and the latter winced a slight bit. “Niles! Don’t say things like that in front of all of the children here!” In reaction to that, Niles rolled his eyes and walked over to him and leaned into his ear.

“Well, in comparison to some of the things I have heard you say to lord Leo in privacy… That was _very_ mild…”

Leo groaned at what looked like the start of another small bicker between his husband and retainer, something which had frequently happened over the past few years. “Niles, please… Not now, okay?” He pushed the retainer away, before resting both of his hands on Takumi’s shoulders. “Come on, Takumi. Let’s see if we can get Forrest lay down so he can rest, and get you changed into some clothes which aren’t bloody.”

Kiragi let out a huge sigh of relief once Leo had ended up pulling one of Forrest’s arms over his shoulder, and relieved the weight from his own. The young teenager watched as his father and brother then left the area through a group of trees, before looking at Takumi, who was gesturing for him to come along with them. Everyone else barring Niles, Nina, and Shigure were also dispersing, so he decided that he probably should go along.

“Hey, Dad?” Kiragi quickly caught up to Takumi, and began looking at the blood all over him. “Does… Your arm hurt?” He seemed concerned, but it was easy to read that there was another reason behind him asking other than that. Takumi raised an eyebrow, as though asking what he was after. “Gods, Dad… That’s mean, you can read me too well… Can I keep hold of the Fujin Yumi for now?… I… I want to keep training with it!”

Takumi rolled his eyes, and pulled the yumi out of Kiragi’s hands and shook his head. “Not yet. I have a feeling… That I might need it for a little longer. Soon though, I will be able to pass it onto you. I will get a feeling through my body, just as the woman I called Mother did, and then I know that I can pass it on. Just wait until that day, okay?” He ruffled Kiragi’s hair as he pouted, before laughing and walking a slight bit ahead. “Now, I wouldn’t want to get lost in these trees, you know...”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Xander was beginning to grow tired of having to search everywhere with Siegbert in castle Krakenburg for Kana, who had ran off crying after realising that Corrin was likely dead after falling into the bottomless canyon. It was painful enough with the ache of knowing that his loved one was lost, but his son too?

He was now at the last room in the castle which had not been searched for the child – Leo’s room. It still belonged to his brother, as he frequented to Nohr with Takumi, Kiragi, and Forrest often, and required use of the room. He placed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything through the door.

Siegbert’s voice was quietly heard, much to his relief. “Kana… You know that you can’t be in here… Uncle Leo has said in the past that he doesn’t want people moving things around in here, or touching his books.” There was quiet sobbing heard at the same time as his oldest son spoke, and it made Xander feel emotional too.

“B- But I want them… S- Siegbert, I don’t want Papa… I- I want… I want...” Kana couldn’t even come out with any of the many different names he called Corrin, such as Mama, as he was too busy sniffling.

“Kana… Father is all that we have at the moment, until we can see if we can find Corrin. Please, don’t keep running away from him...” Xander put on a faint smile as he heard Siegbert trying to get Kana to stop running away. He also laughed quietly at the way in which Siegbert addressed his other parent, by simply saying ‘Corrin’, as he had always been confused on as to what he would call them ever since he was a child.

Kana was heard sobbing even more then, and it made Xander push the door open a slight bit. “I… I am not intruding anything here, am I?” He stepped inside his brother’s room, before gesturing for the two boys to come over to him. “Kana… I am sorry for not properly telling you about what had happened… I promise though, I won’t keep things like that from you again.” He noticed Kana’s reluctance to move, so he slowly walked over to his sons and knelt down. “I tell you what, Kana. As an apology, I will let you stay with me tonight, if you want. You can wake me up whenever you feel upset; I can read you a story if you wish, or you can sleep beside me...” He stated, before holding his hand out. “Do you trust me enough for that?...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah... I feel as though I should mention this, as a few people have mentioned this already. I'm doing my best to keep Corrin as gender-neutral as I can. Yes, they are the parent of Siegbert and Kana, but there's something about that which is going to be mentioned in a few chapters' time~ Every so often I'll slip up and do something such as write 'she', instead of 'they', as normally I default to female Corrin when I write, but I'm doing my best to correct that when I realise it.  
> Anyway, I hope that this is okay so far!  
>  ~~And I know that magic isn't weak to swords in Fates, but shhhhhhhhhhhh-~~

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try and keep more of a schedule for this part, with there likely to be weekly updates, rather than 'the second I type the last word of the chapter I post it' updates which I did for the first part of this... Whoops.


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